Sylvan Wood Temple

This patch is worn at the bottom on the left side of the Tradition members' stole.

The Correllian Nativist Tradition is one of the largest and fastest growing Traditions of Wicca in the world today with local Shrines and Temples in  locations both in the United States, and in many foreign countries such as: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay, to name a few. In addition to the many Shrines and Temples there are also members all around the world who are currently practicing as solitaries. While there may be many imitators there is only one Correllian Nativist Tradition, headquartered in Rossville, Illinois.

The Correllian Nativist Tradition is founded upon the teachings of members of the High-Correll family. The High-Correll family was originally descended from a line of Cherokee Didanvwisgi, a Cherokee medicine man/woman, who intermarried with a line of Scottish Traditional Witches, whose descendants were further influenced by Aradian Witchcraft and by the Spiritualist Church. The Spiritualist Church arose from the Spiritualist movement which began in the 1840s in the United States.

The actual founder of the Correllian Nativist Tradition was the Blv. Orpheis Caroline High Correll. She is said to have founded the Tradition as an entity separate from her ancestry around the year 1879 CE.

The Blv. Orpheis Caroline was a practicing psychic, spiritual healer, and herbalist, and in creating Correllian Nativist Tradition, Orpheis Caroline freely drew upon her Cherokee heritage, as well as ideas of European Witchcraft, Spiritualism, and Hermetic thought.

While to some Wiccans the early history of the Correllian Nativist Tradition may seem somewhat unclear, with familial and religious structures wholly interconnected. The family followed a very formal, matriarchal and matrilineal structure with its roots in Cherokee custom, from which the current offices of the Correllian tradition derive their form.

The Blv. Lady Orpheis called the Tradition simply Nativist, and this would remain the Tradition’s primary designation until the appellation of the term “Correllian Nativist” in 1992 CE, or as we now more commonly call it: Correllian.

The Blv. Lady Orpheis’ Nativism was a highly political and a deeply synchretic form of Pagan universalism, which stressed the need for the world’s Native (Pagan) religions to unite in the face of colonial Christianity

Whether Correllian Nativism was originally a branch of what would later be called “Wicca” or not is a matter of debate. We would say that any such debate would be only a matter of semantics anyway. Correllianism does lay claim to Wiccan status due to the fact that Lady Orpheis herself claimed Scottish Traditional lineage, and upon her Aradian lineage, which she acquired in 1904 CE through Lydia Beckett, a student of Charles Leland.

There have been many changes instituted in the Tradition over the years, particularly in the Council of 1979 CE, and at the Council of 1992 CE, both of which struggled with the necessities involved in adapting the Traditions forms to the modern world and to the needs required for a public Tradition.

So what is the Correllian Nativist Tradition, and what makes it different from other Wiccan Traditions?

Usually when people ask this they are expecting a liturgical answer - some about the existence of certain special beliefs or ritual formulas that are totally unique to Correllianism.

It is a fact that Correllianism does put an unusually strong emphasis on the philosophical aspects of Wicca, and on the spirituality and inner mysteries of the Wiccan religion, but liturgically our beliefs do not especially differ from those of other Wiccan Traditions. Rather it is our attitudes toward the Pagan community and its future that tends to set us apart.  

The Correllian Nativist Tradition is dedicated to the advancement of the Pagan people. We believe strongly in the need for increased communication and co-operation between Pagans everywhere, from all Wiccan / Pagan Traditions.

We stress the importance of the Pagan Clergy as teachers and facilitators, and the need for a strong public presence.

The Correllian Nativist Tradition and its Shrines and Temples emphasize celebratory as well as initiatory Wicca, and as such are strongly committed to accessible public ritual worship of the Divine.

 CORRELLIAN NATIVIST TRADITION’S LEADERSHIP  

Another thing that makes Correllian Nativist Tradition different from many other Traditions of Wicca is that we are a unified Tradition with a single leadership. Correllian Temples are not separate from each other, but are part of an inter-dependent whole which stands together to form a large extended family. The entire world-wide Tradition has a single structure allowing us to act together as few other Traditions can.

The Correllian Nativist Tradition has almost always been led by both a Matriarchal Head and a Fraternal Head.

Today the Correllian Nativist Tradition is led by its two Joint-Heads, based upon the traditional Cherokee clan structure which was used by the High-Correll familial Tradition. These are designated by the titles of First Priestess and First Priest, whose powers are represented by the Office of Chancellor.

The Tradition’s First Priestess is the Rt. Rev. Lady Krystel High-Correll, and the First Priest is the Rt. Rev. Lord Don Lewis High-Correll.

The Office of Chancellor is responsible for the legal and financial standing of the Tradition, and acts as the Chief Administrator of the Tradition, the duties also include the representing of the Tradition’s leadership. The leadership of the Tradition includes the Tradition’s Heads and Officers.